23 Facts About Riverina

The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation.

The Riverina has strong cultural ties to Victoria, and the region was the source of much of the impetus behind the federation of Australian colonies.

Major population and service centres in the Riverina include the cities of Wagga Wagga, Leeton, Griffith and Albury.

The northern boundary beyond the Riverina is determined by the Lachlan River catchment area and is referred to as the Central West.

The western Riverina is presumed to be a continuation of the Ballarat and Bendigo geological zone while eastern sections are underlain by western portions of the Lachlan Fold Belt.

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Riverina soils are generally sandy along the river channels, with more saline grey and brown clays found on rarely flooded areas on the perimeter of the floodplain.

The Riverina bioregion is an area of land that comprises part of the larger Riverina area but extends into Victoria.

Moulamein, in the western Riverina, appears to make legitimate claims as the oldest town in the Riverina, and indeed to being older than Melbourne.

From 1853, the Riverina was linked to markets through a series of riverboats along the Murray and Murrumbidgee to the river ports of Mannum and Goolwa in South Australia and from 1864, to Echuca connected by rail to Melbourne.

The Riverina contains many irrigation schemes including the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area.

Much of the dryland areas of the Riverina contain large sheep stations, producing medium class wool.

The Riverina is home to many Merino studs and the saltbush plains are regarded as one of Australia's best wool growing regions.

Riverina produces the vast majority of rice grown in Australia, particularly in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, but around the Finley, Coleambally and Deniliquin areas.

The first commercial rice crops in the Riverina were grown in the Leeton and Yanco district in 1924, expanding to Wakool during World War II, the Denimein and Deniboota Irrigation Areas in the 1950s and Coleambally and Finley in the 1960s.

Parts of the Riverina experienced substantial population growth in the late 1990s and early 2000s; in the five-year period between 1996 and 2001, Griffith's population increased by 10.

Riverina is represented at the federal level in two divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, the Division of Riverina, covering the Murrumbidgee valley; and the Division of Farrer, the area along the Murray River.

Higher education in the Riverina is provided by Charles Sturt University, with campuses serving the Riverina in Albury and Wagga Wagga.

Riverina is host to two major Australian Defence Force training facilities.

Riverina is well known for the quality and range of its sports activity and many famous sportsmen and women have hailed from the Riverina.

The Riverina is home to many racecourses and picnic race meetings are held regularly at places such as Corowa, Berrigan, Carrathool, Tumut and Lockhart.

Riverina was the setting for some of Australia's great artistic and literary works of the 19th and early 20th century.

Riverina's poems recorded the everyday lives and mateship of the people of the Riverina.

The Riverina is currently home to two major regional LQBTQIA+ festivals, the Hay Mardi Gras established in 2018 and the Wagga Mardi Gras established in 2019.